TIMMINS – No mineral is as valuable as the people who mine them. That was the overwhelming sentiment expressed Thursday night at the Dante Club as the Porcupine Safety Group awarded 90 supervisors for achievement in safety.

The supervisors were recognized for managing crews who have undergone anywhere 5,000 to 75,000 man hours without lost time to injury. In addition to the individual supervisor awards, two majors awards were presented to local mines in recognition of their top safety records.

De Beers Victor Diamond Mine was presented the Angus D. Campbell Award for going in excess of 300,000 man hours with no lost time to injuries and lowest medical frequency. Andre Giroux, safety supervisor at Victor Mine, said maintaining an accident-free environment is not an easy tasl.

“There’s quite a bit of work to it,” he said. “Every day we have a safety theme that goes out to the workforce… It’s brought up to every crew’s toolbox talk every morning. Everybody sits in on it, there is a different one each and every day. It drives the message home that we have to work safely to achieve our targets.”

The other major trophy presented Thursday night was the Robert Dye Award, which was shared by two local mines who have undergone less than 300,000 but more than 25,000 man hours with no lost time to injuries.

The two recipients were Liberty Mines and Agrium Kapuskasing Phosphate Operations.

For Liberty, it was the mine’s second consecutive year being awarded by the Porcupine Safety Group.

“It’s a big achievement for us,” said Brendan Zuidema, general manager Liberty Mines. “It means we’re sending everybody home safe at the end of the day … With zero medical aid frequency/lost time frequency, this proves that we’re doing the right things at Liberty.”